I've started my cat on inhaled corticosteroids and rescue inhaler but she's still have constant stochastic asthma attacks?
What do you guys give your asthmatic kitties and how did you get them in a good place with prevention? We have the fancy AeroKat chamber and she does tolerate it (I can see the indicators flapping demonstrating she is inhaling properly)
She's on
- 110mcg fluticasone 2x/day before food
- 100mcg salbutamol~1-3x day right now
She weighs around 9lbs
We supplement the inhalers with Prednisolone tablets every other day. It also takes time for everything to take effect, so if you just started, may give it another day or so. Call your vet if it's not getting better.
How long does she need the prednisolone for?
Go to your veterinarian. Do not rely on Internet randoms.
While always true, feline asthma is something a lot of vets handle vastly different. So, hearing about how other people roll with it can have a great benefit (given you do not simply change medications by yourself, but propose other plans to your vet!)
I would definitely get some ideas from the Internet, but verify them with a vet afterwards. If you feel like your current vets advice isn't working don't be afraid to get a second opinion from a different vet (it's what I would do with a human doctor as well).
Very true, i had a vet that barely looked at my cat and after getting a second opinion and looking things up online, i realized that he sucked.
His vet closed a year after. Def not a bad idea to hear others experiences
Interestingly specific question for asklemmy :D and as someone else said: always ask your vet. But hoben the nature of feline asthma, hearing of other ways different vets tried to tackle this with can be helpful.
Our cat is currently on systemic prednisolone via pills. I don’t know the dosage off the bat - they can be split into quarters. The vet told us to gradually reduce the amount by one quarter every two weeks as long as the cat has no asthma-attacks.
When we’re down to one quarter, we will try to switch to the inhaler and see how that goes.
Two things to keep in mind with feline asthma: a) it takes a long time for the levels to adjust and thus see correct effects and b) there are so so many different dependencies like stress, food and other infections. Our cat is prone for UTIs. As soon as the bladder makes problems, we are up again with 1 whole pill per day and she will still get asthma-attacks.
So also watch out for other conditions, they may interfere.
I suspect the rest of her life. If I decrease her amount, she has attacks. The vet wasn't worried about the amount of medication she is currently taking, and she is much more comfortable. She's food motivated, so I put the pill in a pill pocket, and puff her twice a day.